Jessika Buell

Contact JessikaJessika Buell, City Councilor

I am an entrepreneur, a coach, a trainer, and- most importantly- a mom. I first moved to Durango in 2001 to attend Fort Lewis College, where I would ultimately get degrees in English Literature and English Education with endorsements in Spanish and Math.  I have two boys that were born and I am raising here in Durango: a twelve-year-old son, Sawyer, and thirteen-year-old son, Connor. Both are the biggest sports fanatics and love all things about cars. They play hockey, lacrosse, football, BMX, mountain bike, snowboard and ski. You could say they love to stay active. They both currently attend Miller Middle School and are full-on teenage boys! I love to workout, enjoy watching and cheering my boys on in whatever sport they are playing, coach their hockey teams, I'm an avid reader, enjoy time with friends, and love working on anything business related!

I have lived and worked in Durango for over 19 years. Starting my professional career as an English and Math teacher in the Durango Schools; I then transitioned into a marketing, business development, and project executive role for one of the largest construction firms in the country. In 2016 I opened my first business here in Durango, Lucky Services. I have over 50 employees now at Lucky, two locations in two different states, and meet locals and visitors everyday that use our services. In 2018 I saw a huge need for digital marketing services for small businesses and opened Marketing Concepts Squared (MC2). We manage social media pages for small businesses and through MC2, I have been lucky enough to meet and work with some amazing businesses in the region. In 2019 I had the opportunity to buy into one of my favorite places on earth to go, my gym, The Vault. I became co-owner of The Vault and I am lucky enough to train, workout with, and get inspired daily by some of the greatest people in this community. I have also worked in this community as a server and bartender in local area restaurants, a surgical assistant for an oral surgeon, a figure skating coach, tennis instructor, and a coach for my boys' hockey and soccer teams. I am the co-founder of The Professional Women's Network of Durango (PWN) and served on the board for 4 years. I was honored to be awarded The Durango Chamber of Commerce's 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year "Ed Morlan" Award and I was named Durango's Trainer/Instructor of the Year in the 2020 Best of Durango.

Through the years I have witnessed the community go through a dynamic pace of growth and change. Durango offers the best possible combination of features for an outstanding family-oriented community. It is situated in arguably the most beautiful setting in all of the United States, and offers ‘out the back door’ access to world-class fishing, four-wheeling, hiking, climbing, skiing, mountain biking and a host of other pursuits. Preserving the quality of life in our area is of critical importance to me.